I have not written for a long time, but today is the cry of the soul.
Previously, there were also problems with disconnections, but due to non-significant situations there was no point in inflating them. But this is another case.
I want to try to move the Pokerstar's machine and pay attention to the problems of the players.
The week of correspondence with Pokerstars did not give any results. Therefore, I decided to reach out to the poker community. In the hope that they will hear and support me.
The next hand was played in the anniversary Sanday Million last week.
No Limit Holdem Tournament
PokerStars
9 Players
$200+$15
Stacks:
UTG (33,063) 66bb
UTG+1 (1,573) 3bb
MP1 (13,447) 27bb
MP2 (46,659) 93bb
MP3 (10,298) 21bb
CO (33,976) 68bb
BTN Hero (31,800) 64bb
SB (53,940) 108bb
BB (31,125) 62bb
Blinds: 250/500 Ante 60
Pre-Flop: (1,290, 9 players) Hero is BTN A♦ A♠
3 folds, MP2 raises to 1,000, MP3 calls 1,000, 1 fold, Hero raises to 3,500, SB calls 3,250, 1 fold, MP2 folds, MP3 calls 2,500
Flop: 9♠ 8♣ A♥ (12,540, 3 players)
SB checks, MP3 goes all-in 6,738, Hero folds, SB folds
Final Pot: 19,278
MP3 wins 19,278 (net +8,980)
MP2 lost 1,060
Hero lost 3,560
SB lost 3,560
For those who do not understand what's happens. In short:
Hero on Button get AA.
Min raise from MP2 and cold call on MP3. Hero do 3bet 3.5x.
Cold call 3bet on SB , original raiser was fold, MP3 also call (!) with micro stack(!!).
On flop A89 shortstack leading all-in. And Hero with set of Aces (that is nuts on a flop!) going to fold!
After SB call I had disconnect. Reconnet was after 15-20 second (further I will prove that not much time has passed), but hand already folded. I still have unused time bank 47 seconds.
At the time of situation, the average stack in the tournament was at the level of 35000 chips. I have 28000 instead of 50,000 + .
I have been playing poker since 2007. I do not tilted due to badbeats or bad playind of opponents .
But this hand just knocked me out of . I could not recover for a very long time and as a result, because of the mass of stupid mistakes that I don’t make in normal condition, I flew out of the tournament. I would even call it the "state of affect". In such a state, even for murder can be justified 
Additionally, fuel to the fire was added by the fact that the short one had developed to 2.5x of the middle stack, and my stack continued to disappear from uncontrolled tilt.
I ask the community to support my appeal to Pokerstars and influence the policy change during disconnects, at least in expensive tournaments! But it is better to introduce a new policy everywhere.
The offer is as follows:
Change the current position relative to the disconnect to the new edition.
If player voluntarily put money into the pot and disconnects happens, need increase the time for reconnect to 30 seconds and also use the player’s time bank to allow him to reconnect.
I also consider fair to re-participate in the tournament with the same buy-in as moral compensation.
Just want to apologize. I don’t know how to convert the hands so that they are beautifully laid out on the forum. Therefore, in its raw form, I threw two hands consecutively under the spoiler.
The first begins at 15:26:22 , the second at 15:27:25 . Difference 1 minute 3 seconds . After deducting the actions of all the players at the table, it is easy to calculate that the minimum time has elapsed since the moment from disconnect so sit out.
Spoiler
PokerStars Hand #199296704797: Tournament #2560911412, $200+$15 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (250/500) - 2019/04/15 3:26:22 CCT [2019/04/14 15:26:22 ET]
Table '2560911412 2382' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Player 1 (13447 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: Player 2 (46659 in chips)
Seat 3: Player 3 (10298 in chips)
Seat 4: Player 4 (33976 in chips)
Seat 5: Player 5 (Hero) (31800 in chips)
Seat 6: Player 6 (53940 in chips)
Seat 7: Player 7 (31125 in chips)
Seat 8: Player 8 (33063 in chips)
Seat 9: Player 9 (1573 in chips)
Player 1: posts the ante 60
Player 2: posts the ante 60
Player 3: posts the ante 60
Player 4: posts the ante 60
Player 5 (Hero): posts the ante 60
Player 6: posts the ante 60
Player 7: posts the ante 60
Player 8: posts the ante 60
Player 9: posts the ante 60
Player 6: posts small blind 250
Player 7: posts big blind 500
HOLE CARDS
Dealt to Player 5 (Hero) [Ad As]
Player 8: folds
Menace158: folds
Player 1: folds
Player 2: raises 500 to 1000
Player 3: calls 1000
Player 4: folds
Player 5 (Hero): raises 2500 to 3500
Player 6: calls 3250
Player 7: folds
Player 2: folds
Player 3: calls 2500
FLOP [9s 8c Ah]
Surv1vorNo.1: checks
Player 3: bets 6738 and is all-in
Player 5 (Hero) is disconnected
Player 5 (Hero) has timed out while disconnected
Player 5 (Hero): folds
Player 5 (Hero) is sitting out
Player 6: folds
Uncalled bet (6738) returned to Player 3
Player 3 collected 12540 from pot
SUMMARY
Total pot 12540 | Rake 0
Board [9s 8c Ah]
Seat 1: Player 1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Player 2 folded before Flop
Seat 3: Player 3 collected (12540)
Seat 4: Player 4 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Player 5 (Hero) (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Player 6 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Player 7 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Player 8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Player 9 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
PokerStars Hand #199296765020: Tournament #2560911412, $200+$15 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (250/500) - 2019/04/15 3:27:25 CCT [2019/04/14 15:27:25 ET]
Table '2560911412 2382' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Player 1 (13387 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: Player 2 (45599 in chips)
Seat 3: Player 3 (19278 in chips)
Seat 4: Player 4 (33916 in chips)
Seat 5: Player 5 (Hero) (28240 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 6: Player 6 (50380 in chips)
Seat 7: Player 7 (30565 in chips)
Seat 8: Player 8 (33003 in chips)
Seat 9: Player 9 (1513 in chips)
Player 1: posts the ante 60
Player 2: posts the ante 60
Player 3: posts the ante 60
Player 4: posts the ante 60
Player 5 (Hero): posts the ante 60
Player 6: posts the ante 60
Player 7: posts the ante 60
Player 8: posts the ante 60
Player 9: posts the ante 60
Player 7: posts small blind 250
Player 8: posts big blind 500
HOLE CARDS
Dealt to Player 5 (Hero) [9d Kc]
Player 5 (Hero) has returned
Player 9: folds
Player 1: folds
Player 2: folds
Player 3: calls 500
Player 4: folds
Player 5 (Hero): folds
Player 6: folds
Player 7: calls 250
Player 8: checks
FLOP [Jc 2h 6s]
Player 7: checks
Player 5 (Hero) said, "wtf!!! AA WAS!"
Player 8: checks
Player 3: checks
TURN [Jc 2h 6s] [2d]
Player 7: bets 500
Player 8: folds
Player 3: folds
Uncalled bet (500) returned to Player 7
Player 7 collected 2040 from pot
SUMMARY
Total pot 2040 | Rake 0
Board [Jc 2h 6s 2d]
Seat 1: Player 1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Player 2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Player 3 folded on the Turn
Seat 4: Player 4 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Player 5 (Hero) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Player 6 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Player 7 (small blind) collected (2040)
Seat 8: Player 8 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 9: Player 9 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Below I enclose a full correspondence with the support of Pokerstars at the moment - under the spoiler.
The essence of the correspondence comes down to the fact that they are not to blame for my disconnect. I explain that it’s not about disconnect, but a situation without a timebank, although I was in the pot.
Spoiler
20.04.2019, 22:18,
Hello.
Ok. You don't want to give money back.
But try to be on my side. It very strange, if I already put money in a pot, why I cant use my time bank?!
I need chance to do something! But if I disconnected between decisions another players I lose that chance.
If I disconnected before put money it is my problem. I ready to get it. But in my situation it not fair and do not logical.
Just think about it!
It very serious problem for players without stable connection.
Best regards, Alexey.
------- Previous Email -------
20.04.2019, 16:25, "support@starsaccount.com" <support@starsaccount.com>:
Hello Alexey,
Thanks for your enquiry about our tournament rules.
The Time Bank is in place to give players additional time to make difficult decisions. It does not protect against disconnections. The Time Bank activates automatically only if a player has money in the pot and is connected to the server. Otherwise, you have to manually click the "TIME" button to activate your time bank or your hand will be folded once the time to act expires and your status will be set to 'Sitting Out'.
If you do have money in the pot and are disconnected, you will receive additional time to reconnect and act if you are on the bubble or in the money in MTTs or SNGs.
'Disconnect Extra Time' is explained in detail on our web site at:
www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/rules/disconnect/
This page is referenced in our Tournament rules as well:
www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/rules/
To explain, when a tournament reaches the point where the money is being contested, it is important for the awards to be based upon poker play rather than on Internet connectivity. A player whose Internet Service Provider (ISP) fails near the end of a tournament deserves every chance to return to the game and play for the prize rather than being blinded off.
As said in the previous email, you were not adversely affected, we cannot issue a refund (or a second chance) for this event.
Thank you for your understanding, and please let us know if you have any other questions and thanks for playing with us.
Regards,
Julien
Stars Support
You are receiving this email as a customer of The Stars Group (TSG), who operate brands that are accessed using a Stars Account.
For more information visit: http://www.starsaccount.fr/
Malta Address: Villa Seminia, 8, Sir Temi Zammit Avenue, Ta’ Xbiex, XBX 1011, Malta
Isle of Man Address: Douglas Bay Complex, King Edward Road, Onchan, IM3 1DZ, Isle of Man
------- Previous Email -------
From:
Sent: 04/17/2019 06:12:51
To: "support@starsaccount.com" <support@starsaccount.com>
Subject: Re: Stars Support - Refund request
Hello
I did not ask for refund!
I was stressed in very expensive tournament for me and when I was disconnected with pocket AA in multipot on flop A89 I was fold without timebank .
And my question was "why in that expensive tournament do not work time bank and disconnection will sit out me after 15 second?" Of course after that I was tilted almost 2 hours and lose my stack. But must have almost double average stack.
I dont ask you why I was disconnected. I Ask you why I was sit out and loose half of my stack in expensive tournament just for 15 seconds? And what can you do to fix it.
If u give me some second chance to play in tournament like that it will be fair. But need to change policy of disconnections in expensive tournaments.
17.04.2019, 17:32, "support@starsaccount.com" <support@starsaccount.com>:
Hello Alexey,
Thank you for contacting us.
Regarding Tournament #2560911412, we have reviewed your hand history to see the effect of any disconnections on your chip stack. The hand history shows that you disconnected 1 time, missed 2 hands and paid 1 small blind.
We regret that as you were not adversely affected, we cannot issue a refund for this event. We can email you the hand history if you wish to see it.
Please note also, that the client did not suffer any server-side problems or disconnection during this tournament. Your problems seem to have been local to your computer or Internet Service Provider (ISP); otherwise many players would have been disconnected, and that was not the case.
Part of the inherent risk of playing poker on the Internet is the possibility that Internet connections may fail for any number of reasons. From a practical business standpoint, it is impossible for us to be responsible for the Internet connections of our players.
Section '4. Disconnects and Sitting Out' of our Tournament Rules page states, in part:
"By participating in a tournament, a player accepts the risk of Internet disconnection, due to problems with the connection between their computer and the servers, lag or freeze or some other problem in the player's computer or the Internet.
We do not accept any responsibility for a player disconnect except in the case of a server crash."
The complete rule list is available here:
www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/rules/
Regards,
Nikolay
Stars Support
Got more questions? Check out our Help Centre for quick solutions at www.pokerstars.com/help
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You are receiving this email as a customer of The Stars Group (TSG), who operate brands that
are accessed using a Stars Account.
For more information visit: http://www.starsaccount.com/
Malta Address: Villa Seminia, 8, Sir Temi Zammit Avenue, Ta’ Xbiex, XBX 1011, Malta
Isle of Man Address: Douglas Bay Complex, King Edward Road, Onchan, IM3 1DZ, Isle of Man
------- Previous Email -------
From:
> Sent: 04/14/2019 15:35:04
> Subject: Disconnections (PS) COM S&C - V1.2018 Disconnet + timebank!
>
> Right now I play in Sunday Million and has disconneted for 15 second . After back my hand was fold, But still have time bank. WTF??? Why in so expensive tournament I have problem like that? How can you give my stack back or do somethiing else??? Check pls it was very importand hand!!
Sorry for my English. Adequately, how does the community feel, who is right?
PS I was hide personal information and the names of the players. In case of a positive situation, I am ready to provide full information.
